PIERRE Some familiar challenges and some new ones are among the goals that the board of directors of the South Dakota High School Activities Association set for the coming year when it met Nov. 5.
One familiar goal is developing a sportsmanship initiative concerning fan, coach and player behavior. In the past the association has sought out and highlighted school initiatives in this area. It has worked with the student council advisory council and the Bench Bad Behavior initiative from the National Federation of High School Associations. It also developed a fan ejection policy.
For the coming year, the board will attempt to implement a targeted sportsmanship initiative with an estimated completion date of June 2026.
Another goal held over from last year is studying the concept of using a success factor in sports classifications. Currently high school sports are classified by enrollment. A success factor would use a variety of factors to move teams up or down in classification.
In the past, the association established the framework for a committee, sought input from the committee and member schools and reviewed success factor models from around the country.
SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos said a success factor may be a way to throw a lifeline to a program thats drowning.
In April of next year the association is due to present its findings to the board. If accepted by the board, adopting a success factor could lead to constitutional amendments or bylaw changes.
Another goal for the year is developing an initiative highlighting the value of the state high school activities association. In the past, social media posts with this message have been implemented and the association has used ideas from and contributed to the Protect the Purpose campaign sponsored by the NFHS.
At its meeting on Nov. 5, Swartos showed the SDHSAA board of directors a fact sheet prepared by the staff. It lists the benefits of participating in high school sports and activities as higher GPAs, higher graduation rates, greater career aspirations, fewer school absences, fewer discipline problems and lower risk of drug use.
By June 2026 the association hopes to incorporate that messaging with corporate partners, distribute materials to schools and other stakeholders.
The association also has the goal of working on the retention of more activities directors. To accomplish that goal the association will seek input from member schools on AD retention and develop ideas from that feedback. Recommendations will be presented to the board in June 2026.
Its a tough gig, Swartos said of the job of high school activities director. In most years, 25% to 30% of the states activities director jobs are open. According to Swartos, some schools have a new activities director every year, hurting the schools chance for its offerings to develop any sort of consistency.
Another goal concerns the recruitment of coaches. In the coming year the association will seek input from members on coach recruitment and develop ideas from member feedback. Recommendations are due to the board of directors in April 2026.
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